In recent years, there has been an increased focus on diet and exercise and the benefits of both to an individual's health. As a result of this increased focus, more individuals are exercising today than ever before.
Health and fitness professionals have long encouraged exercisers to perform stretching exercises prior to and after engaging in any type of exercise activity to prepare the exerciser's body for the rigorous exercise activity and to promote the relaxation of the exerciser's muscles following the exercise activity. These professionals have determined that exercisers that perform stretching exercises on a regular basis, both before and after engaging in an exercise activity, have an improved range of motion and are less likely to injure themselves during the performance of the exercise activity.
Unfortunately, effective techniques for stretching the quadriceps muscles do not exist. Traditional methods for stretching the quadriceps muscles have several disadvantages. First, traditional methods require hyperflexion of the knee joint in which the exerciser's knee is placed in an extreme position, thus exposing the exerciser's knee to injury. Exercisers with existing knee injuries find it painful and/or counter productive to assume these traditional positions. Second, traditional methods require the exerciser to position the exerciser's body in manner that requires balance, straining of the muscle, and positioning in a non-relaxed state. This positioning of the exerciser's body is antagonistic to the relaxation state that is most effective for stretching.
Thus, it is desirable to have a low-cost apparatus and method for effectively stretching the quadriceps muscle without hyperflexion of the knee joint. It is desirable that such apparatus and method prevent excessive forced ranges of movement of the knee joint. Further, it is desirable that such device and method allow the user to use the device and method without any unique posturing concerns (i.e., balance, strain, non-relaxed state, etc.), and that the user be able to position the user's knee in the apparatus in such a manner that the user can achieve a relaxed state of stretch. Finally, it is desirable that the device be capable of being used to stretch other leg muscles such as the hamstring and calf muscles without excessive forward flexion and strain to the lower back area.
Heretofore, the various forms of apparatuses and techniques that have been designed have not embodied the desirable qualities set forth above. Information relevant to one such attempt to address these problems can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,473, which relates primarily to a device that allows a user of the device to stretch and exercise all of the user's muscle groups by positioning the user's body and the apparatus in various relationships to one another. However, until now, there has not been an effective means and technique for stretching the quadriceps muscles.